MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/. The total length of traffic jams in Moscow caused by abnormal snowfall has exceeded the distance between Moscow and Rome — 3,400 kilometers, said the press service of the traffic situation monitor operated by the Yandex Internet company.

"The total length of traffic jams reached 3,400 kilometers, which is even more than the distance between Moscow and Rome. The reason for this was heavy snowfall which continued all night," the press service said.

Due to heavy snow, Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov was 20 minutes late to the "government hour" in Russia’s Federation Council (upper house of parliament), where he was to brief lawmakers on the legal status of NGOs.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said earlier on Wednesday that it would take several days to completely eliminate the effects of the record snowfall in the Russian capital.

The weather in Moscow broke the 50-year-old precipitation record for this particular day. According to the Russian Hydrometeorological Center, last night Moscow had up to 24 mm of snow at the VDNKH weather station (in the northeast of Moscow), which is slightly more than 70% from the amount the city sees during one month (34 mm).

Despite the snowfall, Moscow’s airports continue to operate as normal, a source in the air traffic control service of the Moscow region has told TASS. "Visibility at Moscow airports at the moment is about 5,000 meters, which makes it possible to ensure aircraft takeoff and landing," the source said.

The maximum daily precipitation for March 2 was registered in 1966 amounting to 22,2 mm.

Heavy snowfalls were also registered in the Moscow region, with the city of Naro-Fominsk located some 70 kilometers southwest of Moscow seeing the greatest amount of snowfall — up to 28 mm.